
Class __tJ5^^^ 



SPEECH 

OF/ 

RICHARD FLETCHER 

I 

TO HIS CONSTITUENTS, 

DELIVERED IN FANEUIL HALL, 

Monday, Nov. 6, 1837. 



Fellow Citizens ! — 

Manifestations of attachment to our common coun- 
try and her free institutions, are at all times a spectacle 
full of interest and full of hope. It is a cheerino; and 
ennobling sight to witness an assembh of freemen gath- 
ering together in this temple of liberty, to consult on 
their common interests and their high duties. While in 
this place, assembled for our present purpose, the spirit 
of our forefathers hovers over us, and the father of his 
country looks down upon us with approbation. 

Gentlemen, you have been truly told that this is an 
important public meeting. The importance of the elec- 
tive franchise, especially at a crisis like this, cannot be 
overrated. Its*.e\ercise is a right, full of dignity and 
full of importance. The destinies of the people are in 
their own hands*; and whether or not our free institu- 
tions shall be preserved — whether or not the Consti- 
tution, established by the toil and blood of our fathers, 
shall be perpetuated as a blessing to our children — es- 
sentially depends upon the exercise of the elective fran- 
chise. Every man has a duty to perform ; every man 
has an office of trust imposed upon him ; and every man 
owes it to his conscience and to his country rightfully 
to fulfill that trust — fearlessly to perform'that duty; 



Go c> 



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2 

and at all times, in every crisis, especially in times like 
these, to exhibit a proper degree of feeling and manly 
affection for the interests and the well-being of his 
country. 

You are about to exercise this right under circum- 
stances which give it accumulated value and impor- 
tance ; under circumstances, such as have rested at no 
past time lately, and at no future time perhaps at all will 
rest upon you. Every vote which is now given should 
be thrown with distinct reference to the state of our na- 
tional affiiirs. The candidates before you either main- 
tain or oppose the policy of the general government ; 
and the result of the election will lead either to the ap- 
proval or condemnation of that policy. It becomes, 
therefore, of the highest importance to direct attention 
to the condition of the country — to the declared views, 
and to the policy of the administration. 

In relation to this subject, I have some duties which 
I am anxious fully and faithfully to discharge. You 
have placed me on the watch tower as a sentinel of lib- 
erty, and I come to tell you wKat 1 have seen, what I 
have heard, what I have done, in order that you may 
judge if all be well. If I know anything of my own 
heart, when I accepted the trust you saw fit to confide 
to me, I was actuated by no sinister nor selfish motive ; 
I was wedded to no party ; I was pledgetl to no system ; 
1 was committed to no course. I had nothing in view, 
I desired nothing, I sought nothing, but faithfully and 
vigilantly to discharge my duty to my country, to my- 
self, and to you. I had no desire to oppose the admin- 
istration. On the contrary, I hold that every man is 
bound to aid the administration of his country, except 
for some good reason to the contrary. For myself, I 
am desirous to be judged by that rule ; 1 intend to act 
by it ; and I am willing to answer for my course with 
respect to it, to my country and my conscience. But 



while I hold it the bounden duty of every man to up- 
hold the adtninistration but for some good and sufficient 
reason to the contrary, I consider it equally his duty to 
withhold from that administration his support, when its 
spirit is hostile to the best interests of the people. It 
is then the course of duty to oppose the administration. 
It is patriotism to oppose it ; and the man who does not 
oppose it is a traitor to himself and to his countr}. 

Let us look, then, a few moments, at the course and 
general policy of the present administration of this 
country. 

It is painful to look back ; and I fear that but little 
encouragement can be discerned in looking forward. 
But it is a necessary duty. I need not detail to you 
here the circumstances in which we find ourselves. 
But a few short months ago, in the midst of peace and 
friendship with the whole civilized world, with the 
smiles of a beneficent Providence playing around us, we 
were suddenly plunged into a depth of commercial dis- 
tress, such as has never before been felt amongst us. I 
need not depict the horrors of the scene. There are 
here too many aching hearts ; too many brows furrowed 
with disappointment and care ; to render such a descrip- 
tion either agreeable or necessary. The hardly-earned 
savings of years of toil ; the provision for declining age, 
and dependent families — scattered in an instant to the 
winds of heaven ; the cry of distress sounded through- 
out the length and breadth of the land ; — but unheeded 
by our rulers, — the suffering increasing and accumulat- 
ing, — till at last, the general crash of the oldest and 
firmest institutions in the land, rang like a clarion through 
the lofty apartments of the Executive mansion, startling 
its slumbering inmates, and arousing them to a sense of 
the danger, and touching them at last with the feelings 
of alarm. Then was Congress assembled, as you be- 
lieved, and as I believed, for the purpose of devising 



some measures for the relief of the country. Your 
anxious eyes were directed to the seat of government ; 
and when the moment of meeting arrived, how painfully 
were your hopes and fears excited ! With what solici- 
tude did you wait for the annunciation of the views and 
opinions of the Chief Magistrate. 

You can better imagine than I can describe the throb- 
bings of my own heart, as the intentions of the Execu- 
tive were promulgated to Congress. You were not 
there present, but ere long, the message reached you 
also. The anxious and intense feeling on the subject, 
was such as no country in time of peace and quiet, ever 
before exhibited. All eyes were directed, all hands 
were extended, towards the General Government. The 
people looked to it for aid and protection as children to a 
fostering and affectionate parent. How were their sup- 
plications received ? How were their expectations an- 
swered ? In his communication to Congress, the Chief 
Magistrate passed over with an air of careless disdain 
the great to])ics which agitated the people ; and confined 
himself immediately and exclusively to an object for 
which the people care but little — but an object for 
which alone, as it aj)peared, he had convened that body, 
namely, the relief of the Government ! 

The message was divided into two great heads. Un- 
der the first head, the President undertook to assign the 
cause of the distress, of which, as appeared from sub- 
sccpumt i)arts of the message, he would have taken no 
notice, had not the Government been involved in it ; 
and under th(; second, to point out the; remedy for the 
evils under which the government was laboring. 

Permit me to call your attention to the fust head 
abovementioned. 

It will be remembered that by the Constitution, the 
President is expressly cnjoincnl to comnnmicaie to Con- 
gress such information as he may possess, relating to 



the important interests of the country. Congress were 
to apply reniedies ; and unless the whole circumstances 
of the case were spread before them, how could ihey 
act understandingly ? It was the bounden duty of the 
Executive to inquire into the affairs of the country, and 
under the solemn sanction of an oath, to state to the 
representatives of the people fairly, honestly, and fully, 
the inquiries he had made, and the results he had ob- 
tained. Did he do so ? He gave his opinions as to the 
causes of the distress ; and what reasons did he assign 
for it ? He said that he had found a great increase in 
the number of local banks, an enormous enlargement of 
the issues of bank paper, extravagant speculations 
among the people, extravagant expenses on the part of 
individuals : but that there was no fault in the govern- 
ment, none at all ! The Government has done nothing 
wrong ; the Government had no mistake ; everything 
was perfectly right on the part of the Government. In 
the people, in the people, the cause of all the distress 
was to be sought and found. 

The first inquiry which an intelligent people are bound 
to make under these circumstances is — "Was this re- 
presentation tru^ ? — is it according to fact r" 

Is the President, in acquitting the administration of 
every mistake, borne out by the facts of the case ? Did 
not the destruction of the United States Bank, and the 
placing the public moneys with the several local banks, 
afford new facilities for speculation and the ext(Mision of 
credit. Was not the importation of specie from abioad, 
— the importation of specie upon credit, so much fostered 
and encouraged by the general government, the chief, if 
not the only cause of the derangement of oin- foreign 
trade ? Was not the specie circular a prime moving 
cause of all our domestic and internal difficulties ? Over- 
banking ! over-trading! If they existed, how came 
they to exist ? The President tells you that the world 



6 

stands on a tortoise ; but what the tortoise stands on, he 
leaves you to find out as you can. I appeal to you as in- 
telligent, practical business men, whether the government 
were or were not chargeable with having contributed in 
a principal degree, if not exclusively, to produce that 
very spirit of speculation, of which they now complain? 
Does not every practical man among you concur with 
me in considering the government as having originated 
the evil ; were not the measures of the government the 
cause of the increase of local banks, and the occasion 
of the excessive issues of the paper of these banks ? 
Did not the government encourage over-banking ? Did 
it not seduce the banks into over-issues ? What respect 
can we have for a Congress which would blindly assent 
to such assertions as those made by the President, which 
would absolutely and unequivocally acquit the adminis- 
tration of all l)lame, of having made the slightest mis- 
take, and which would throw all the blame upon the 
people, and boldly charge them with having caused their 
own sufferings ? I seek not to stir up party feelings ; I 
wish for cool discussion, and I appeal to every one to 
say deliberately with what security we can rely on the 
statements of an Executive, which indulges itself in 
statements like these i" 

So much for the causes of the evil ; now for the rem- 
edy proposed. In the fast place, when tiie people ask- 
ed the administration lor relief, the President meets the 
request by declaring that ^^ the people expected too much 
from the government^ This is the sentiment, and these 
are almost the very words made use of by a writer in a 
monarchical government in Euro|)e, while treating upon 
this very subject of commercial difliculties. Either the 
language is borrowed, or it is a most remarkable coinci- 
dence ! The ])eople expect too much from government ! 
I deny it. 1 aver that the sentiment is a base libel on 
the people ! Such language might well be used by a 



despot and a tyrant. The people expect too much from 
the government ! Who and what is the government ? 
Wliat is this government that tramples on the requests 
of the people, and tells them tiiej expect too much ? 
What is this government that spurns the people, and 
bids them hold their tongues, and not be running to the 
government with impertinent petitions ? The very plea 
is an insult! What is this government? The whole 
nation is the government. The will of the people is 
the government. The men in office are the mere or- 
gans of that will, and when the people demand of them 
that their will shall be obeyed, are they to be told that 
they ask too much ? The time has been, when lan- 
guage like this would have cost any man his place ; and 
I trust in Heaven, that that time has not yet gone by ! 

It is the plan of the President to detach the govern- 
ment entirely from the people. " The people ask too 
much." The office holders are to be elevated on high 
— seated upon thrones of gold and silver; while the 
people are to grovel beneath in rag money and shin plas- 
ters ! When, therefore, the people applied for a rem- 
edy, they were told that nothing can he done; that 
there is no remedy ; — meaning that nothing would be 
done — that nothing should be done — except for the 
government ! 

The proposed remedy, it seems then, consists in the 
relief of the government, at the expense of the people. 
Let us now look a moment at the manner in which 
this remedy was administered. 

During the session, the business projects upon which 
the House were called to act, came almost entirely 
from the Committee on Ways and Means. There are 
nine members of that committee, only two of whom are 
understood to be opposed lo the general policy of the 
administration. 1 suppose you would like to know the 
manner in which the business was arranged for the 



8 

House. 1 will tell you the fVays, — the Means jou 
will all see in due time. You doubtless suppose that 
this Committee of Ways and Means has some duty to 
do ; some ways to devise, some means to find out ; 
some plans to originate and mature for the action of the 
House. The committee, you imagine, look over the 
message, see what is recommended to be done for the 
benefit of the country ; consult together as to the best 
measures; and lay the result of their deliberations be- 
fore the House. Is this your idea, Mr. President ? Is 
this what you think, fellow citizens ? If it is, I am 
sorry to inform you, that you labor under a very great 
mistake. I once entertained the same ideas ; but I 
soon found my error. No such thing, sir ; no such 
thing. The chairman of the committee, steps up to 
White House, and there receives from the President or 
the Secretary of the Treasury, such bills as they wish 
to have passed by the House. The chairman puts the 
bills in his pocket, takes them to the committee ; with- 
out any examination the majority of the committee ap- 
prove them ; the minority can do nothing ; the bills are 
presented to the House, and received as the doings of 
the committee. 

I aver to you that every important bill passed by the 
House, came to the House ready drawn, from the Ex- 
ecutive. The Representatives are mere machines. 
Every measure is an Executive measure. 1 mean by 
the Executive, the President, and the heads of depart- 
ments ; the cabinet. They originate everything, put 
everytliin:i into the precise shape they wish, word for 
word, letter for letter, comma for comma ; and the Exec- 
utive majority in the House pass each bill forthwith, 
Avithout alteration ; and so far as depends ujion them, 
without d(!biJte ; just as it comes from the masters at 
the White House ! 

1 had heaid of Executive dictation — of Executive 



usurpation — of Executive patronage. I thought that I 
had seen something of it ; but until I h.ad visited the 
seat of government, I had no conception of its true na- 
ture, of its vast extent. I solemnly warn you against 
this terrible concentration of power in the hands of the 
Executive ! I sec in it a most alarming danger — threat- 
ening, fearfully threatening the liberties of the country ! 
Executive power has become a very Colossus, which 
bestrides the land from one end to the other : and, fel- 
low-citizens, if we do not overthrow it, most assured- 
ly it will crush us; and in crushing us, in crushing the 
people, it will crush liberty, it will crush the Con- 
stitution ! 

A resolution was introduced int'o the House from the 
committee on Ways and Means, declaring that it is in- 
expedient to charter a national bank. You may feel 
some interest to know how that resolution was got up. 
I will tell you. You wdll recollect that there were only 
two opposition members on the committee. The ma- 
jority would do nothing for the people, and the minority 
could do nothing — except to report the doings of their 
masters in the committee and in the House, to their 
masters, the people ; and this at least, I for one am re- 
solved to do. Very many petitions, from almost all the 
States, were sent into Congress for the establishment 
of a national bank. These petitions, as they were pre- 
sented, by a mutual understanding were referred to the 
committee on Ways and Means ; and suffered to lie on 
the table till the whole should come in ; when, as was 
supposed, they were to be taken up and considered. 
So the matter stood ; when, on on the last day but one 
on which that committee sat, the chairman, without 
preface or explanation, introduced the above resolution. 
It was opposed by one opposition member — the other 
being absent ; and the chairman w as asked what had 
become of the i)etitions. They yet lay on the table ; 



10 

but the majority passed the resolution without opening 
one of them. The resolution was sent in, and by the 
help of the previous question was forced through the 
House. No doubt can be entertained that this resolu- 
tion came down from the Executive in the precise form 
in which it passed. Here was a great and most mani- 
fest outrage on the liberties of the citizens. At least, 
they have the right to petition, if they have no other ; 
and yet, in a time of the greatest anxiety, when it was 
of the most vital importance that the views of the peo- 
ple should be conmiunicated to their representatives, 
here was a successful attempt on the part of the Exec- 
utive to cut off this intercourse ; to prevent the voice 
of the people from being heard ; to erect a barrier be- 
tween the people and their constituents. 

There is another subject on which I wish to say a 
word. For two years past we have been in actual open 
war with the Seminoles. For two years past we have 
been engaged in an expensive war, which is exclusively 
an Executive war. The opinion of Congress has never 
been asked upon the subject. An invitation has never 
been extended by the Executive requesting the people's 
representatives to inquire into any matters relating to 
this war in which the government is engaged. The 
Executive has carried on the war, and Congress has 
been called on to appropriate money to the amount of 
t(»n millions of dollars and upwards, to defray the ex- 
penses of it. They have done so ; and over thirty 
thousand troops have been enlisted, and have served in 
the fjeld, in j)rosecution of this merely Executive war. 
The President has rendered no account, has asked no 
advice. Who knows how the war begun? who can 
tell hoW' it has been prosecuted ? During the late ses- 
sion, a resolution was brought forward in the House, di- 
recting an inquiry into this matter. JJy the manage- 
ment of the Executive majority, this resolution failed 



11 

altogether ; and the Executive is suffered to go on in 
its course with whatever money it chooses to demand. 
The barbarous Indian has been enlisted, by presidential 
orders, on the side of the Christian white man, to fight 
his brother savage ; and the people look on without 
knowing anything about it : they only pay I Who can 
deny that the country is in imminent danger, when as- 
sumptions of power so dangerous as these are suffered 
to go unrebuked and unresisted ? 

The first measure proposed by the government, was 
the repeal of the deposite bill, so far as related to the 
unpaid fourth instabnent of the surplus revenue, ordered 
by Congress to be deposited with the several States. 
There was due the State, under this act, between nine 
and ten millions. 1 need not detail to you the origin of 
that debt ; or recount the history of the passage of the 
bill to restore to the people a part of their own money, 
notwithstanding the strenuous opposition of the late 
Executive. The bill passed; and the first three instal- 
ments were duly paid. The faith of the United States 
was pledged that the fourth instalment should be paid 
also. Many States, relying on this faith, had already 
a])propriated their portion and expended it in public 
works. Notwithstanding the most urgent representa- 
tions of the great inconvenience and loss which the 
States would sustain, in consequence of the violation of 
the contract on the part of the government — the repeal 
bill was passed ; and the payment was nominally post- 
poned, though as I fear actually withheld, forever. 

The second measure was the Treasury note bill. 

At the commencement of the year 1837, exclusive of 
the money to be deposited with the States, there w ere 
in possession of the government about seven millions of 
dollars ; add to this nine millions more withheld, by the 
deposit repeal bill, from the States, and between six and 
seven millions more due from the United States bank; 



12 

and all the ordinary revenue of the government besides. 
Ill addition to this, it was proposed to raise ten millions 
more, by the issue of treasury notes to that amount. 1 
was unable to perceive any necessity of taxing the peo- 
])le to that amount ; and was therefore opposed to the 
measure. And had it even been proved to my satisfac- 
tion that the proposed issue of treasury notes would 
have tended to the relief of the merchants, I should 
have felt myself bound in conscience to vote against it, 
on account of the dangerous principle of issuing paper 
money by the government. All history is opposed to 
such issues. The States, at the formation of the Union, 
knew and dreaded, and took precautions against the great 
and distressing evils which have always followed in the 
train of government paper money. The history of the 
old Continental currency, is one continued and solemn 
lesson upon that subject. If we consider further, the 
great additional power which such a system will place 
in the hands of the Executive, it will appear still more 
objectionable. My own mind revolted at it. Th(^ pres- 
ent is particularly the time to avoid consolidating in one 
hand, the tremendous powers of the purse and of the 
sword. 

On two things more, I wish to say a word. One of 
them is the Sub-Treasury System. 

The government propose, by this system, to collect 
all the revenue of the country in gold and silver, and 
ait(M' deducting an amount sufficient to meet ihv, ordi- 
nary current expenses, to box uj) the remainder, and 
place it in the custody of some thousand government 
officers, scattered throuiihout the land. A formidable 
host of new office-holders will thus be organized, and 
stationed among us, — quartered, I may say, upon the 
]}eople. The specie of the^^ountiy ^viIl be withdrawn 
iVom circulation and uselessly hoarded up in their strong 
chests. All the gold and silver lieing thus withdrawn 



13 

from the daily uses of trade, the people will be left to 
content themselves with such a currency as they may be 
able to get. Few would deny, that if the government 
were permitted to fasten this system upon the country, 
we should soon have an irredeemable paper currency. 
The banks are now unable to pay specie ; in this situa- 
tion, they seek the aid of the government. But the 
government — a government that has caused their dis- 
tresses — instead of assisting them, abandons them al- 
together, and takes measures to disable them from ever 
resuming specie payments. If the government is suf- 
fered logo on, the country will soon be flooded with an 
irredeemable paper circulation of twenty, forty, sixty 
millions, which the people will be compelled to use, 
while the office-holders will secure all the specie. 

Are you willing, fellow citizens, that the government 
shall sepaiate itself entirely from the people ; that it 
shall raise itself into a privileged class; fare better than 
you ; exercise other and higher rights and powers ? 
How long can a government like ours maintain itself 
after it has lost the confidence of the people ? What 
shall sustain it when deserted by the people ? Upon 
what shall it rest, if not upon the affection and devotion 
of the people? How long can it compel the people to 
look up to its members as beings ranking in a sphere 
above themselves? After the interests of the peoj)le 
are separated from those of the government, can the 
people remain attached to it ? Will not a sense of inju- 
ry and wrong be aroused at seeing the people worse off 
than their servants ? W' ho furnishes the government 
officers with their splendid houses ? Who built the cap- 
itol ? Who equips the navy ? Who furnishes the gov- 
ernment with means to maintain its authority ? Who, 
but the people ? And shall the people be degraded to 
a condition inferior to that of those whom they create? 
And yet there is nothing in this picture, revoking as it 



14 

is to every sensible mind, which the power of the Ex- 
ecutive, if left to pursue its present career unchecked, 
may not bring forth. The scheme is not now in ope- 
ration. It was so monstrous that even the party in 
power were compelled to lay it aside for a time; but it 
is still the measure and policy of the administration. It 
is only postponed; presently it will again be brought 

forward ! 

We have then an important duty to perform. Let 
us raise our voices against this same sub-treasury scheme, 
call on Congress by the imperious power of public opin- 
ion, to do their bounden duty in defeating it. If the 
citizens desire to place themselves under a government 
like that above described ; let them say so at once. 
But if you would keep the government in subjection to 
the peoj)le ; if you would have your public officers, your 
servants, not your masters, of you, and not above you, 
then it is most essential that you crush this new project 
in the bud. 

I will detain you but one moment longer. The Ex- 
ecutive, among other new doctrines lately broached, de- 
nies that the Constitution confers upon the federal gov- 
ernment any power over the currency. To that doc- 
trine I cannot assent. The federal government has ex- 
clusive power to regulate trade ; nobody doubts that. 
But what is the currency, but the instrument of trade? 
an essential instrument withuot which trade cannot be 
carri(^d on ? Does not the power to regulate trade ne- 
cessarily carry with it the power to regulate the cur- 
rency, without which there can be no trade ? The cur- 
rency is the life blood of commerce ; and \\ hen it be- 
comes deranged, corrupted or disordered, connnerce is 
of course disordered. 1 he government, according to 
the new construction of the Constitution, has a power 
full and complete, over the general subject of trade; 
but ()v<-r the currency, which is an essential [)art of trade, 



15 

and upon the good Constitution of wiiich the existence 
of trade depends; over that, they have no power at all. 

But throw theory and speculation aside, we have 
practical proof, practical experience, that the federal 
government does possess the power, which it now^ dis- 
claims. Times like the present have occured before. 
We were not told by the government in 1791, that it 
possessed no power to exercise a controlling influence 
over the currency of the nation. When the people ap- 
plied to the venerated Father of his country, then at 
the head of the government, did he say that he had no 
power to do anything for the regulation of the cur- 
rency ? Not at all ! The administration of that day, 
saw the wants of the people, and adopted measures for 
their relief, which were completely successful. In 1814 
the currency was involved in difficulties very similar to 
those which now exist. Specie payments were sus- 
pended, and so continued till 1816. Mr. Madison was 
then at the head of the administration. When relief 
was then demanded, when the government was called 
upon to regulate a disordered currency, did they declare 
they had no power to do it ? 

Did our rulers then tell the peojile that they asked too 
much? not at all. They did administer relief; they 
did adopt measures by which permanent relief was ob- 
tained. The country flourished under the system then 
adopted, — how well, need not be mentioned now. For 
twenty years the growth of the nation was without ])re- 
cedent ; its prosperity increased beyond all human cal- 
culation. But for those measures, but for that well reg- 
ulated system of credit which then existed, the tide of 
wealth, circulation, and prosperity, instead of flowing 
up the Mississippi and spreading beyond its western 
bank, would now be lingering alons; the shores of the 
Atlantic. On that system the country prospered ; and 
never, till now, has the government been heard to say 



w 



16 

that it had nothing to do with the currency. It is not 
true. Tlie declaration is merely an indication of party 
policy. 1 he system of the party is, to break down the 
banks ; to reduce the people from the sound and healthy 
currency they lately possessed, to one of irredeemable 
paper ; and to monopolise all the metallic circulation for 
themselves. They will do nothing for the coujitry. 
But to carry out their party principles, to effect their 
o.vn party purposes, they will do anything. They have 
destroyed the national bank, and they mean to destroy 
the local banks. They have rallied their friends under 
a new banner, on which is written, " Down with the 
monied corporations." This is their war cry ; and when 
they say they cannot do anything for the relief of the 
people, or for the improvement of the country, what 
they mean is, that they will do nothing. 

It remains with you to say, whether this system shall 
be carried out. It remains with you to declare, whether 
when your ])ublic servants avow that they will do noth- 
ing to relieve you — you will not take the matter into 
your own hands, and begin a general system of relief, 
by relieving the country, in the first place, from such 
rulers ! 



PRESS OF J. JI. EASTUUUN. 



Lb N 'iO 



